Booker clear choice for Senate

Everyone, including Cory Booker it seems, thought the upcoming election for the U.S. Senate seat was going to be a rout.

He and the pundits were wrong. Booker's Republican opponent, Steve Lonegan, has closed the gap in the opinion polls from 35 percent as recently as two months ago to 12 or 13 points in the most recent surveys. And there are still 10 days to go until the special election.

Booker, the Democratic mayor of Newark for the past seven years, believed the polls. He took his election for granted. His campaign consisted largely of fund-raising out of state rather than pressing the flesh and making personal appearances in New Jersey. That has eroded his support, as has the incessant hammering of his record by Lonegan and news reports questioning some of his financial dealings.

Booker has been wounded, but he clearly is a far better choice for the Senate seat than Lonegan, whose conservative views on most social and economic issues are out of step with the majority of people in New Jersey.

Lonegan wants to repeal Obamacare and freeze federal spending and debt. He opposes any new federal gun restrictions, is pro-life and anti-gay marriage, and he has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme."

He wants to "dismantle" the IRS, opposes providing a legal path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and wants to make English the official language of the U.S. He dismisses the idea of global warming and opposes Democrats' "radical green agenda."

Worse, Lonegan's rigid positions on those issues, which he argues are true to the founding principles of this country, leave no room for the compromises that are so necessary - and so lacking - in Washington today. Sending Lonegan to the Senate would be pouring more gasoline on the fire.

At an editorial board meeting Thursday, he accused Booker of having only one guiding philosophical principle: political self-interest. We don't question Booker's ambition, nor his skill at self-promotion. Political corridors are filled with such people. But we believe he is intelligent, pragmatic, sincere about wanting to improve the lot of the average American, and dedicated to the private-public partnerships needed to make the country move forward.

We also believe Booker, unlike Lonegan, is capable of working well with members of the opposite political party to get things done, as evidenced by his apparent mutual "bro-mance" with Gov. Chris Christie.

Booker's views are largely in tune with those of the Democratic Party. He supports the basic tenets of Obamacare, and he wants to make the tax system simpler and more fair and preserve Social Security. He supports tougher gun laws and a legal path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, he is pro-choice and backs gay marriage, and he believes in climate change.

But what helps sets him apart - at least in today's Capitol - is he is not an ideologue. He recognizes the damage done to this country by the stalemates in Washington and the unwillingness of either party to find a middle ground.

Lonegan, on the other hand, is as unbending as the Tea Party extremists in Congress. He refers to Booker as a far-left liberal and calls himself a conservative. In truth, Booker is a moderate Democrat and Lonegan is an ultra-conservative Republican.

For voters who espouse the right-wing philosophy, and believe this country is doomed if the Tea Party agenda isn't implemented, Lonegan is a perfect choice.

For those who believe the country is doomed if our representatives in Washington can't find a way to negotiate their way out of our quagmire, choose Booker.

If he is elected, he will have a little more than a year to prove he is worthy of re-election to a full six-year term. We believe he will be. And we are far more comfortable with someone who believes problems with government are fixable than with someone who blames all of America's ills on government.

"Government isn't the answer to our problems, it is the problem," Lonegan said during Friday's debate, a line that has become his mantra.

We want someone who will be dedicated to fixing government, not dismantling it.

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Booker clear choice for Senate

Everyone, including Cory Booker it seems, thought the upcoming election for the U.S. Senate seat was going to be a rout.

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